Lin Yi then took a moment, letting his thoughts settle. He considered various names, testing their sounds, their implications. His mind searched for something that would feel natural enough, something that would slip from his tongue without a second thought, ensuring he wouldn't hesitate or stumble if someone were to address him by it. After a brief internal deliberation, a name surfaced.
"Xu Mu," he said aloud, testing the sound, feeling how it settled within him.
Something almost imperceptible flickered across Xu Ling's expression, a fleeting shadow or a subtle tightening around her eyes. It was brief, vanishing instantly, gone before it could be properly read or assigned any specific meaning. She simply nodded once, a gesture of acceptance.
